Cold, Tumor, or STD?
by Argallel
Summary: An episode-like story. Can House fix a teenage girl today? Or will he be haunted by yet another death? On a probably permanent hiatus...
1. Chapter 1

"Cold, tumor, or STD?"

World famous diagnostician, Doctor Gregory House, asked this question as he limped into clinic room two, not even looking at the patient.

"Sorry, what?"

House flipped open the patient chart, and scanned it, making some 'uh-huhs,' as he went. "I said," he repeated. "Cold, tumor, or STD?" He looked up at the clinic table to see a middle aged woman with her small, teenaged daughter.

House immediately began looking for symptoms. He knew it would just be a routine cold, but he was always looking for puzzles, always searching for clues. That was his job, his life.

He noticed the girl's laboured breathing, the wheezing sound that happened every time she took a breath.

He noted her small stature, and the way her hands shook slightly. He noticed the slight hunch in her posture. A tired hunch, as if the girl didn't have the strength to keep herself up.

"Doctor House?"

House looked up quickly, his crystal blue eyes landing on the mother. "That's my name, don't wear it out." He hung his cane on the counter and limped over towards the girl. Pulling out his stethoscope, he slid it under the girl's shirt on her back.

"Breath in," he instructed. She did, and his eye brows crinkled as he heard what could only be described as crackling. Then, he grabbed a thermometer from the drawer on his left. Sticking it into the girl's mouth, he waited 'till it beeped.

"103.4," House said, looking curiously at the girl. He got a strange feeling this wasn't the first time this girl was this sick. The mother was too calm.

Either that or she just didn't care about her daughter.

But whichever one it was, House had a hunch. A hunch that this was no normal case of pneumonia. Usually, House's hunches were worth following up on. "How often do you get these chest infections?" He asked.

The mother bit her lip. "She never used to get them often, but this is the third this year."

Weakened immune system, House though immediately. He stood up, grabbing his cane from its spot on the counter.

House was just about to speak when he realized something. The girl hadn't said a word. Neither the mother nor the girl had introduced themselves. "What's your name?" he asked gruffly.

"Josie," the girl answered hoarsely.

"Well, Josie," House said, a glint in his eyes at the possibility of a new case. "I'm admitting you."

House M. M. M. M. M. M. M. M. M. M. M. M.D.

"15 year old female presents with pneumonia, muscle weakness in one leg, and delayed motor functions. Go."

Cameron pursed her lips. "People with pneumonia usually have some muscle weakness. She's probably just tired. And she could just be slightly mentally retarded."

"That," House said, his marker squeaking as he wrote the symptoms down on the white board, "would be a coincidence, which I hate. And if you had done a patient history, you would have found out the muscle weakness was there before she got sick."

Chase choked on his coffee. "You did a patient history?" he asked, amazement creeping into his Australian voice.

"Didn't have to," House answered, striding over to the glass table where his duckling sat. "She was walking with a pronounced limp, which wouldn't happen if you were just tired everywhere."

Foreman nodded his head, agreeing with House. "And if it was just muscle soreness or fatigue from the pneumonia, it would be everywhere, not just in one limb."

"Thank you," House said, annoyance creeping into his voice. "Now can we skip the ass kissing part and get back to the whole, patient could be dying, part?

"Right," Chase said. "It could be epilepsy. Patient has a focal seizure, she becomes slightly confused afterwards and presents with muscle weakness after having a few more seizures than normal."

"All of which could be accounted for by the rise in her temperature due to the pneumonia," Cameron finished, flipping through the patient's file. "Do you have her on a fever reducing medication?"

House glared at Cameron. "Yes." He turned back to Chase. "Epilepsy doesn't account for her weakened immune system."

"Weakened immune system?" Foreman asked, leaning forward. "You ran the tests already?"

"Yet again," House said. "Didn't have to. She's had three bouts of pneumonia already this year. Her immune functions are down." He threw the whiteboard marker in the air, catching it again. "Come on people, think! What could it be?"

"West Nile," Foreman put out.

House nodded. "Very good."

"Could be anemia," Cameron added in. "She's just the right age."

"Okay," House said. He glared at Chase. "Come on, spit it out, Wombat! Everyone else has some good ideas! You're just sitting there, waiting for a good idea to mooch off of!"

"It could be Lyme disease," Chase suggested. "Or a number of toxins or prescription medication."

"Alrighty then," House said. "Cameron, go get a patient history. Chase, take some blood and run a full blood panel, and check specifically for West Nile and Lyme. Foreman, go do a tox screen."

His ducklings all got up from their chairs, and started to leave. "Oh, one last thing," House said, an evil grin on his face. "Foreman, pick up my dry cleaning when you're done."


	2. Chapter 2

"Any history of heart problems?" Cameron held a clipboard tightly, filing out the answers to her questions in neat writing.

Ms. Zimmer, Josie's mother, sniffed quietly, trying her best not to cry. "Her great grandfather died of a tumor in his heart, but it was lung cancer that had spread." She paused. "He smoked, but I don't! No one she is around much smokes!"

Cameron nodded. "Thanks," she said stiffly. For some reason, she didn't feel quite comfortable around Josie and her mother. Why? She wasn't sure, yet. She knew she would get to the bottom of it.

Just then, Josie started to cough, and her body heaved with the force of it.

"Oh gosh," Ms. Zimmer said, getting up and hurrying over to her daughters bed. She helped Josie sit up, rubbing her back slowly, trying to ease the fit. "You okay, honey?"

Josie nodded weakly. "Can I have some water?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. Her mother nodded, poured a glass of water from the bedside table, and handed it to Josie. "Thanks," Josie whispered after she'd taken a sip.

Ms. Zimmer turned back to Cameron. "Is there anything I can do?" she asked, desperation in her voice. "I mean, she's been really sick before, but never quite this sick."

Cameron gave the distraught woman a small smile. "We already have her on IV fluids and antibiotics, but that's all we can really do. We should have the pneumonia under control within the next few days."

"I understand," Ms. Zimmer said, sniffing slightly. "What about the, uh, zebra? Was that what the blond doctor called it?"

Cameron smiled. "Doctor Chase? Yes, he may have mentioned a zebra." She motioned for Ms. Zimmer to sit down, doing the same. "You see, the department I work for is called the Differential Diagnosis department. When other doctors fail to diagnose a condition, we try." She paused, letting it sink in. "We diagnose the zebras, whereas most doctors diagnose the horses."

Ms. Zimmer thought about it for a moment. "So do you mean my daughter has a rare condition?" she asked, her voice squeaking on the last word. She cleared her throat, trying to sound together. "And is that why she always is sick?"

Cameron nodded. "We think so. We also think it has something to do with her leg weakness and delayed motor skills." She folded and refolded her hands. "And we will do whatever needs to be done to fix her."

House M. M. M. M. M. M. M. M. M. M. M. M.D.

"So, people, what did you figure out?" House extracted his vicodin out of his pocket and took the lid off, popping two into his mouth. He dry swallowed, then glared at his ducklings. "Come on! It's not like she's getting any better!"

"Her history was fairly clean," Cameron said, glancing over the notes she had written. "Well, at least up until last year. She's been getting perpetually sick since then. Mostly chest infections, but she has seen quite a few doctors for her leg weakness, as well as some when she was younger for the delayed motor skills."

"Let me guess," House said, rubbing his scruffy chin. "The other idiot doctors found nothing."

"Exactly," Cameron said. "They just diagnosed her with having slight cerebral palsy."

"Except her muscle weakness came on at about age 13."

"…yes."

Foreman cleared his throat trying to gain the other's attention. "Tox screen was clean." He passed around a piece of paper. "Nothing there."

"Her liver function seemed slightly low," Chase added in, passing around the blood panel. "But she has an infection, so it's normal. Her white blood count is up too."

"Really?" House said sarcastically. "Who would 'a thunk?"

Chase ignored him. "Red blood cell count is normal." He turned to Cameron. "So it's not anemia."

"Did you test for Lyme and West Nile?" Foreman asked, take a sip from his steaming coffee mug.

"Yes," Chase answered, sounding annoyed. "I am competent, just to let you know." He paused, taking in a breath to calm himself. "She was negative for the antibodies for both."

"Good," House said sarcastically. "Because that's just what we needed to hear."

Just then, everyone's beepers went off simultaneously. Everyone pulled them out, looking at the message.

"She's hallucinating," House said, his eyes narrowed.

House M. M. M. M. M. M. M. M. M. M. M. M.D.

"Get them away! Get them away!"

Chase, Cameron and Foreman hurried into Josie's room, with House not too far behind. Cameron's eyebrows immediately shot up as she read the monitor beside Josie's bed.

"Her temp's up to 105.2. We need to cool her down." Cameron quickly turned to the nurse who was standing helplessly in the corner of the room. "Ice packs! Stat!" The nurse hurried out, almost running into House.

"What do you think she's hallucinating about?" House mused, stroking his chin. He walked over to Josie's bedside. "Hey, kid, what's happening?"

"I'll eat you before you can eat me!" Josie yelled, her voice raw. "So leave me alone!" She broke out into a fit of coughing, her oxygen cannula ripped out and laying on the floor.

House smirked. "Oh, you're much too young for me to eat," he said.

Cameron's jaw dropped. "House!"

Chase glared at them. "If you two don't mind, our patient will die if we don't do something." He grabbed her wrist. "Her pulse is racing. We really need to get her fever down. I don't think ice packs will be enough."

"Putting her in an ice bath would put her in shock," Foreman argued. "That would kill her."

"House!" Cameron said, waving her hand in front of his face. "What do we do? Play it 'safe' and use ice packs? Or cool her down via an ice bath?"

House stood up, seemingly ignoring Cameron. He limped to the door, flung it open, and bellowed, "Hey! New, hot nurse! Yes, you! Get an ice bath in here! Now!"

Cameron looked worryingly at Josie, who was pale and sweaty, tossing and turning as she muttered incomprehensible things about being eaten. She quickly grabbed an oxygen mask from the corner of the room and fitted it over Josie's face. "If we don't fix her pneumonia soon, it'll kill her before whatever else she has does."


	3. Chapter 3

"We're back to square one," Cameron said, once they were back in the differential room. The ice bath had worked, lowering Josie's temperature, but the problem was far from over.

Chase sighed. "We don't have a clue what's wrong with her, other than the pneumonia." He paused, his eyes narrowing slightly. "And the pneumonia's about to kill her."

House twirled his cane around and around, over and over. Finally, he realized his team was staring at him. "What?" he asked rudely.

"You have a patient?" Foreman reminded him, clasping his hands together. "Her name is Josie? Shorter than average with long red hair?"

"Yeah, yeah," House said. "I remember." He popped a few vicodin in his mouth and dry-swallowed. "Have you figured out what's wrong with her yet? Because if you don't figure it out, she'll die."

"She'll die of pneumonia before whatever other illness she has," Chase replied, looking over Josie's file. "We need to get that under control. Her other illness seems to be in no hurry to kill her."

"Unless," House said, stoking his chin, "her pneumonia is really not pneumonia, and just another symptom."

Foreman narrowed his eyes. "How can pneumonia be a symptom of a disease?"

"Not the actual infection, you idiot," House spat. "What if the chest crackling and the high fever are just symptoms of whatever she has?" He paused, waiting for his ducklings' reaction. When there was none, he spoke again. "Differential diagnosis, people. Go."

"SARS," Chase blurted out. "Fever, laboured breathing, weakness, it all fits."

"Except," House said, eyeing the whiteboard carefully, "she's a retard."

"House!" Cameron scolded. "She had some mental delays when she was younger. They don't necessarily have anything to do with what we're dealing with now."

Foreman smirked slightly. "Too much of a coincidence for House to ignore. He thinks even your personality traits have something to do with your health."

"And it would be useful if we could even talk to this kid," House said, thumping his cane on the floor. "But nooo! She had to go and almost die on us. Now, she's asleep, and probably delirious." He turned to Cameron. "Did you notice anything strange about her when you took her history?"

Cameron shook her head. "She barely said a word. Her mother did all the talking." She paused. "Could be Mononucleosis. It fits all the symptoms, if you don't count the mental delays."

"Which I do. So, no."

"Why not?" Chase asked. "Let us run the test. It fits perfectly. Mono can hang around for ages, lowering the immune system's defences."

House slammed his fist on the table. "Sure! Run the test and when it's wrong and she's already dead, _you_ can tell Cuddy!"

The three ducklings sat there, used to House's outrages. Still, they always hurt.

"Okay," Foreman said. "What about TB? That fits. It even fits the mental delays, if the infection spread to her brain."

"Only if she got it when she was young," Chase argued. "Which if she had TB, she would be dead by now."

"Not if it was in remission 'till last year," Cameron added in.

House nodded. "Do the test and start her on isoniazid and rifampicin," he said quietly, his voice gravelly. "Right now, it's the best we've got."

House M. M. M. M. M. M. M. M. M. M. M. M.D.

"House!"

House ignored the woman's voice and kept walking towards the elevator.

"House! Stop right there or I'll double your clinic hours!"

House slowly came to a stop, tapping his fingers on his cane. "Cuddy," he said drily. "How nice to see you."

Cuddy strode up to House. "Wish I could say the same."

House put a hand over his heart. "Ouch, Cuddles! I thought you loved me! You have mortally wounded me!"

Cuddy crossed her arms over her chest, effectively covering up any view House would have had of her cleavage. "I heard you have a patient," she said accusingly. "Why was I not informed?"

House pretended to think about it for a moment. "Am I that desirable to you that you have to know what I'm doing every second of the day?" He smirked. "I always knew you had a secret desire for me."

Cuddy ignored his previous statements. "I reviewed her file, House. She's fine. Nothing is wrong with her."

"If you call not being able to breathe and having a fever of 105.2 fine, then sure. She's fine."

Cuddy sighed and brushed some hair out of her face. "You know what I mean, House." Her eyes bore into House's skull. "I pay you to diagnose the un-diagnosable. This girl," she ruffled through the patient file, looking for the name, "Josie Zimmer, has pneumonia, not some undiagnosed condition."

"If you discount her muscle weakness and delayed motor skills," House said, that familiar twinkle in his eye, the twinkle that told Cuddy he was excited about solving this case.

Except, she thought, there was nothing to solve.

"She was diagnosed with CP," Cuddy said stiffly. "She has pneumonia. Why are you so involved in this? Usually you do anything to get out of a case."

"This interests me," House said, his face now hard. "Is it so impossible to believe I am actually interested in something?"

"Yes!" Cuddy said. "The only thing you are interested in is vicodin! What is with this case? Why this one? It's not even that exciting!"

"It's a puzzle!" House said, his voice rising above Cuddy's. "It's an unsolved puzzle and I will figure it out!"

Cuddy glared at him. "There is no puzzle! You're just putting a very sick girl through tests that will show nothing! She has pneumonia! She's deathly ill! This is not the time to screw around with a patient!"

"I'm not screwing around with her!" House all but yelled. "I'm trying to cure her!" He turned around and walked into the still waiting elevator. "So if you'll excuse me, I have a patient to save."

House M. M. M. M. M. M. M. M. M. M. M. M.D.

Chase checked the readings on the monitor, taking note of them and writing them down on Josie's chart. Her O2 sats were still low, even though she was on 100% oxygen. But that can happen when your deathly ill with pneumonia.

"Is she going to be alright?" Ms. Zimmer asked, biting her lip. "Do you know what she has?"

"We think she has tuberculosis," Chase answered, hanging up two new IV bags on Josie's banana pole. "We're starting her on two new antibiotics that will hopefully kill off the infection."

Ms. Zimmer paled. "Tuberculosis?" she asked, sitting down heavily on her chair. "Isn't that a disease you get from being in cold, dank places for too long?"

"Not necessarily," Chase said, compassion dripping from his features. "It can also be passed around from person to person." He looked at Ms. Zimmer. "Is it alright if I try to talk to Josie? I need some information on how she's feeling."

"Of course, of course," Ms. Zimmer said, dabbing her eyes with a tissue. "Whatever needs to be done to fix my little girl."

Chase walked over to Josie's bedside. "Josie?" Chase asked quietly. "Are you awake?"

Josie cracked open one eye, and even in her hazy state, it was obvious she was glaring at Chase. "Yes?" she asked, her voice hoarse and barely there.

"I just need to ask you a few questions. Is that okay?" Chase pulled up a chair next to Josie's bed and sat down as Josie nodded. "Alright. So I know you're not feeling very well, but I would like to know exactly what hurts."

Josie closed her eyes against the light. "I can't breathe, my head pounds, and my throat is on fire." She began to pant, running out of breath.

Chase laid a hand on her shoulder. "Easy there. We don't need you any sicker than you already are."

Josie nodded, catching her breath slowly. "My legs also feel weird."

"Weird how?" Chase asked, his eyes narrowing and his curiosity peaking.

"They feel like they're tight, and kind of hot," Josie said, beginning to pant again. "But not fever hot, just pulsy hot."

Ms. Zimmer stood up, worried. "What's wrong with her?"

Chase's brow furrowed. "Do you mind if I take a look?" he asked, not quite sure what it could be. When Josie nodded, he gently pulled back the bedclothes.

Josie's legs were red and swollen. Not too bad, but still, enough to be worried about. "Her liver's failing," he said.

In response, Josie just panted.


	4. Chapter 4

"What did you find for me, my kiddies?" House grinned at them, a scary sight on even the best of days.

"Liver function's down," Foreman said, ignoring House.

Chase nodded. "We knew earlier that her liver function was off, but we assumed-"

"_You_ assumed," House interrupted.

Chase rolled his eyes, trying to not be bothered by House. It wasn't working so well. "Fine. _I _assumed it was because of her pneumonia. It would make sense."

"Other than her now failing liver," Cameron added in. "It doesn't add up. I mean, does she even have pneumonia?"

House tapped his cane, his face twisted slightly as he thought about it. "Is her liver actually failing?" he asked. "Or is it just she's had pneumonia so many times that her liver hasn't had a chance to recover in-between?"

Foreman nodded. "That also makes sense."

"Wait a second," Chase said, his blond hair falling in his eyes. "She has pneumonia now? What about your whole, 'pneumonia is a symptom' theory?"

"It's a crappy theory," House said, rubbing his face. "What idiot thought pneumonia was a symptom? It's clear she has it." He paused, waiting for his minions to speak. "Come on! What does she have?"

"Cellulitis!" Cameron blurted out suddenly, her eyes narrowed as she tried to think.

House rolled his eyes. "It doesn't fit," he snapped. "It doesn't cause pneumonia or shortness of breath or anything!"

"It explains the swelling, fever, and why the liver function is down," Cameron offered again.

"Her legs are swollen because her liver function is down," Chase argued. "It doesn't fit, Allison. Just leave it."

House raised an eyebrow. "Allison, is it?" He smiled creepily at the couple. "Robert and Allison, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-"

Foreman cleared his throat. "House, we have dying patient. Can we get back to the differential please?"

"Oh, fine," House said dejectedly, limping over to the white board. He stared at it for a moment, thoughts flying through his head. "Aha!" He said finally. "What starts with p, and ends with n?" It was silent. "Come on!" House yelled. "There's no such thing as a dumb answer!"

"Premature ejaculation," Chase said suddenly.

House paused, his fingers stopped tapping his cane. "Never mind. There is such a thing as an incredibly dumb answer. She's a girl, you moron."

"Pulmonary hypertension," Foreman offered.

"Nope!" House sing-songed. "Wrong again!"

"Pandimonium?"

House looked up at the door to see who had answered his question.

Cuddy.

"Ah, Cuddy, won't you come in," House said, his fingers tightening around his cane. "It's always _such _a pleasure for you to come and ruin my team's delicate thought process."

Cuddy sighed. "Stop fooling around and just tell them, House," she warned through clenched teeth. "I run this place and have power over you. Don't make me exert it."

"Fine." House rolled his eyes. "Try pleural effusion. The membrane around her lungs is filling up with fluid, causing weakness, fatigue, shortness of breath, and cough."

Foreman nodded his head in submissive agreement. "Of course. It fits, and can be cause by both pneumonia and liver disease."

"Buys us some time to find out why little miss mute has liver failure." He waved away his team. "Go and tell the mother. Then, start the thoracentesis."

Cameron, Chase, and Foreman all left silently, each wondering what Cuddy wanted with House.

"So," House said, once they were gone. "Come to have rough make-up sex with me?" he asked, winking. "I've heard glass tables are especially good."

Cuddy rolled her eyes. "I came to apologize," she said stiffly. "I'm sorry I thought your patient was fine, when in reality, she's not."

House raised an eyebrow. "I don't care that you feel guilt over a wrong decision. Go cry over the patient and tell her you're sorry." With that, House strode out the room in search of Wilson. It was his lunch break.

Cuddy was left standing there, her eyes narrowed and her lips pursed with distaste.

House M. M. M. M. M. M. M. M. M. M. M. M.D.

"So you're going to stick that into my back?" Josie squeaked, her voice still barely there. She fell back against the pillows, her face flushed with fever.

"I'm sure it's for the best, Josiebear," Ms. Zimmer said, although her lashes were wet with tears. "These doctors know what they're doing." She motioned to Chase. "And he's Australian."

Chase smirked slightly, finding Ms. Zimmer's trust in him, solely because he was Australian, funny. "We do know what we're doing, Josie," he said, trying to sound comforting. "If we don't drain your lungs via this hollow needle, you risk having your lungs collapse."

Cameron smiled compassionately. "It's for the best. We just want you to get better." She motioned for Ms. Zimmer to step off to the side. "We think she has a condition called Pleural Effusion. It's when the membranes around your daughter's lungs fill with fluid. If we don't remove it, her lungs could collapse, and she could die."

Ms. Zimmer stifled back a gasp. "Of course, of course," she said, the tears now running silently down her face. "Do what you need to." She lowered her voice. "Does this having anything to do with Tuberculosis?"

"No," Cameron shook her head. "We ruled that out, as well as many other conditions. Doctor House believes your daughter may have a liver condition, although we can't be sure yet. We first need to get this under control."

"Liver condition?"

Cameron nodded. "You've been told her liver is possibly failing?" When she received a nod, Cameron continued talking. "Well, it can sometimes cause Pleural Effusion. Once we have that and the pneumonia under control, we should be able to do a liver biopsy and find out what's wrong."

"Alright," Ms. Zimmer agreed. "Do it."

House M. M. M. M. M. M. M. M. M. M. M. M.D.

House looked at his pager, his eyes narrowing at what he read. He quickly made his way to Josie's room, and stepped inside to what seemed to be chaos.

"She's in V-fib!" Chase yelled to House. He spun around wildly. "Where are the damn paddles?" His eyes were completely focused, ready to do anything to save his patient. "Where the hell is the nurse?"

Cameron continued the external heart massage, the heel of her palm pumping Josie's chest in a steady rhythm. "Chase was just starting to drain her, and her heart just freaked…I can't even…"

Josie lay on the bed, her eyes un-focused, gasping as air failed to fill her lungs.

House just stood there, cane in hand, and watched as his team flurried to fix his young, dying patient.


	5. Chapter 5

"Push two more cc's of Amiodarone," Chase said, looking warily at the heart monitor. "The tachycardia's still present."

House rubbed his face. "Well, it's obviously not pleural effusion." He tapped his cane against the floor. "Who wants to tell the mother? 'Cause I sure as hell don't."

Cameron glared at House. "This is your fault," she spat. "If you actually ever even came to see our patient, or even cared about her, you may have actually diagnosed her right!"

"Really? Because I think you care too much about this Josie kid," House said, his face hard set. "And it's not like I heard you ever discounting my argument."

"Well you know what? I-"

Chase laid a hand on Cameron's shoulder. "It's not worth it," he said quietly. "And House is right. We all contributed to the differential. We're as much to blame as he is."

House lifted an eyebrow in surprise. "Thank you, Womabt," he said with a slight bounce in his voice. "I thought you hated my guts."

"I do hate your guts," Chase replied. "I just think there are bigger fish to go after." He looked over his shoulder at Josie, who was passed out on the bed, barely breathing. "Like Josie. Do you think we should intubate?"

House narrowed his eyes. "Oxygen sats?"

"76%," Cameron replied, her face twisted slightly as she thought. "I vote we do it. It'll at least keep her from getting Hypoxemia."

House nodded. "Do it." He watched quietly as Chase went out and told the mother what they were about to do. He then watched as Cameron expertly guided the intubation tube down Josie's throat and connected it to the respirator.

"Now what?" she asked once she was done.

"Now," House said gruffly, rubbing his chin and slowly getting to his feet. "We figure out what's wrong with this kid before she dies."

House M. M. M. M. M. M. M. M. M. M. M. M.D.

House paced around the differential room. "What causes lowered immune systems, liver failure, muscle weakness, heart issues and mental delays?"

Foreman's eyes narrowed. "Any number of things," he responded. "Sickle Cell Disease fits."

"Would have seen it in the blood panel," House answered quickly.

"She doesn't seem to have anything else we can think of," Chase argued. "She has pneumonia, that much we know. Unfortunately, the antibiotics aren't working as well as we'd hoped."

"Come on, people!" House yelled, shaking some vicodin into his hand and dry-swallowing them. "It's not Sickle Cell! Think! What could it be?"

"Food poisoning?" Chase offered. "It could fit. Not as well as Sickle Cell mind you, but-"

House frowned. "Do I pay you to be an idiot? Because that's the second stupid thing you've said today." He paused. "Just thought I'd let you know." He turned to Cameron, who hadn't said a word. "Hey, sexy brunette, are you even alive?"

Cameron blinked, then looked up quickly at House, her face registering surprise. "Wait, are you talking to me?"

"No, I was talking to Chase," House said dryly. "Of course I was talking to you, dimwit! You're the one who's not paying attention to me!" House frowned. "Aren't I pretty enough for you to look at all day?"

Cameron frowned slightly. "I was just thinking about this case." She paused, her eyebrows crinkling even further. "There's just something, something that doesn't add up."

"Thank you, captain obvious!" House said, glaring at the whiteboard. "If the pieces added up, we wouldn't have this case! If the pieces added up, any other doctor would have fixed Junie way before now, and she would be at home, probably stroking a kitten."

"It's Josie," Foreman said, his hands folded on the table.

"What?"

Chase sighed. "Josie? That's the name of your patient. Not Juniper, or whatever you called her."

House rolled his eyes. "Junie, Juniper, Josie, it's all the same to me." He paced around to the other side of the table. "Come on people! I see it! Why don't you?"

"Aha!" Cameron jumped up quickly, upsetting her coffee, which spilt all over Chase's lap. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" she apologized, rushing to get some paper towels.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Chase stood up to reveal a large brown stain on his pale blue shirt. "I'll just head to the washroom to clean this up. I could change into some scrubs, I guess." He looked at House. "That alright, House?"

House narrowed his eyes. "Well, not until one of you sees what I see on the white board." He lowered himself into a nearby chair, grinning devilishly. "So let the games begin!"

"House," Foreman said, a warning note in his voice. "Josie may not have much longer unless you tell us what you see."

"Fine, fine." House rolled his eyes and painfully got back up to his feet. "She had a clot that started in her leg, restricting the blood flow and causing the weakness." He paused, letting it sink in. "Then, pieces of it broke off for whatever reason, and they travelled around her body, finding places to settle."

"Causing a pulmonary embolism and intestinal ischemia," Foreman concluded, a slight sigh of relief in his voice. "So if we start her on Heparin-"

"-she'll be fine," Chase finished. "But we better start her on it soon. Right now, she's a ticking time bomb. If another piece of the clot breaks off, it could shoot to her heart and kill her!" He looked longingly at the door. "Can I go change now?"

Cameron looked at Chase guiltily. "I'm really sorry," she said, her voice small.

House cleared his throat. "Yes, exactly," he said, ignoring Cameron. "It would seem possible that a small piece already hit her heart, causing the v-fib. So go start the kid on Heparin, and hope she doesn't die before then."


End file.
